Monday, September 10, 2012

Stop, Rewind, Erase

I’m having a rough day, and I’m sure that lack of sleep has a lot to do with it: I had a horrible night last night, and so did Jamie, and I today I got to experience a true monetary cost for that lack of sleep.

Jamie was up hour after hour last night, largely due to the tooth that finally FINALLY! poked its dastardly way through his gums today, and you would think that I would have been so exhausted as to fall instantly asleep each time he was soothed and put back to bed. But no! I did not! Instead, I tossed and turned, drank water, got up to pee, let the dog out, let the dog in, let the dog out again, and generally did not feel nearly as “sleepy” as I should have given my general level of fatigue. Insomnia is a bitch.

I took the kids to the grocery store today because they actually like to go. Charles loves riding in the car cart, and they give free cookies and free cheese sticks to kids, so it’s not so terrible to take them, really. Except that today Charles was whining about “I want juice! I want candy! I want that cereal! I want a book!” and he was leaning on Jamie, who then fussed, and I was so tired today, it was an un-fun experience. And then we got to the pharmacy, where I picked up two new prescriptions. I was in a hurry and didn’t look at my receipt or even ask how much they were – which is not like me at all.

Like most Americans, it seems, or at least a large number of them, we are counting our pennies. We’re not broke, so I’m thankful for that, and we can almost afford our lifestyle, which is a blessing. But I hate paying extra for things I don’t need because I have these lofty goals of paying down debt, keeping enough in savings that we could survive if Tony or I couldn’t work for some reason, and contributing to our children’s as-yet-non-existent college funds.

But I seem to make a stupid mistake every week that costs us money. Today, it was that one of my prescriptions, a totally-optional, nice-to-have, less-expensive-alternatives-available drug cost $70. SEVENTY DOLLARS! I could have spent none! And I didn’t even think to check before I signed the credit card slip because Jamie was crying and Charles was yelling and it was almost dinner time and I just wanted to go home.

Of course, the pharmacy can’t take the unopened prescription back. I asked.

I swear I need a brain replacement.

Here! Look at a video of my cute baby in the bath! It’s doing a good job of taking my mind off of that $70 that I now feel like I owe my family.

I know it's not just me who feels the pain of this stage, but it is nice to hear that someone else is there, too. Misery loves company, and all that. I think I had forgotten just how awful teething was for us with Charles. This has brought it all back.